Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

NEW YORK - The last time the Yankees had a day like this, a little more than seven years ago, the new first baseman bolted out of his seat, threw on his pinstriped jersey and started crying, before eventually saying he wanted to win "10 rings, like Yogi has."

That was Jason Giambi, a California kid who cut his wild hair and scrubbed himself with a Yankees brush so he could take a $120 million deal from the team he said he'd always loved. He then spent the next seven years watching everything - his reputation, batting average, weight and power numbers - rise and fall, rise and fall, all the while maintaining a persona that was occasionally maniacal, frequently off-color and almost always endearing. He was the Big G: Frenzied, frenetic and forever a threat to run into one. He just didn't win.

So the Yankees tried again. Yesterday, when Mark Teixeira was called to the dais at Yankee Stadium, he moved deliberately, slipping off his dark suit jacket, sliding on his new jersey - the same number 25 that Giambi just vacated - and calmly speaking to the assembled media about his dedication, his desire and his work ethic. He did so in his own measured way, a "total Type-A personality," as his sister describes him, forever in control of his thoughts, words and emotions. Now that his own eight-year, $180 million deal is complete, he faces the same expectations as Giambi. The difference lies in how Teixeira will manage them.

At his introduction seven years ago, Giambi talked openly about someday making the Hall of Fame; Teixeira said yesterday that "I believe I have yet to tap my potential."

At his introduction seven years ago, Giambi mentioned getting some of the "toe rings" that Yogi Berra has; Teixeira said yesterday that "My goals are the same as the Yankees - to win the World Series."

At his introduction seven years ago, Giambi apologized after literally sobbing, "This is an incredible day!" through his tears; Teixeira said yesterday that it was "pure joy" to know he was becoming a Yankee, and the tone in his voice wasn't all that different from when he was discussing the depth of the 2009 Yankees lineup. This is not to say Teixeira is boring. He (probably) isn't. But where Giambi was quite possibly the freest spirit one could ever meet, Teixeira seems to be more of the prototypical Steinbrenner employee: Clean-shaven, short-haired, methodical and focused. He wore a power tie yesterday, is devoted to his family and learned discipline growing up with a military father. If someone was going to play "Yankee" in a movie, it could easily be Teixeira.

"I'm going to get a chance to be the first first baseman at the new Yankee Stadium," he said. "That'll be pretty cool." Then, noting that the Yankees don't play their home opener at the new stadium until two weeks into the season, he added, "Hopefully we'll be three or four games up in the division by then." Somewhere, George Steinbrenner nodded. GM Brian Cashman readily admitted that pitching was his priority this offseason, and spent most of his time pursuing CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, two free agents who were introduced at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 18. "Without a doubt, this was a deviation from our plan," Cashman said, which is one reason why it all came together very quickly.

The Yankees had made an offer much earlier in the winter for six years and $20 million a year, then pulled it when Teixeira and agent Scott Boras didn't accept, choosing instead to let the market develop. That was fine - Cashman was focusing on pitching anyway, though he did spend an afternoon with Teixeira at a Washington hotel early in the month, giving him a recruiting pitch just as Teixeira's other suitors (the Nationals, Orioles, Red Sox and Angels) did. Cashman even remembers thinking that Teixeira struck him as particularly businesslike during that meeting. "He was a man with a plan," Cashman said.

It was only later, after a conversation with his wife, Leigh, during one of their customary Friday night dinners out - "It's our date night," Teixeira said - that he decided he wanted to be a Yankee.

Up to that point, Leigh had been hesitant to single out one particular team, but that evening he asked her: If all things, including money were absolutely equal, where would she want him to go? And at that meal, about two weeks before Christmas, Leigh told him, "Be a Yankee."

"It's just something I knew he would love," she said yesterday.

There was still the contract issue. After gauging where the rest of the interested teams stood - and after seeing the Angels publicly withdraw from bidding once it got too high - Boras spoke with Cashman at about 11 a.m. on Dec. 23 and said Teixeira wanted to make a decision by 1 p.m. that afternoon. Cashman still believed the Red Sox were likely to get Teixeira, but after a conversation with Hal Steinbrenner, he told Boras the Yankees were willing to up their offer to eight years and $180 million. About an hour later, Boras called back and wanted to discuss some of the smaller details of the contract, which Cashman took as a positive. He called Hal again and said, "I think we might be the lead dog now." Shortly after 1 p.m., Boras called once more and said, "You're in."

That gave the Yankees the best position player this offseason along with the two best pitchers, a winning winter if ever there was one. Cashman shook his head. "Winning the winter doesn't mean squat," he said. "I want to win the summer."

Giambi never won a summer, never got any of those rings he talked about on a dais seven years ago. Yesterday was Teixeira's introduction, another big-money first baseman, another big-time bat. For all their similarities, the two couldn't be more different. It's only the expectations that remain the same.